Organic & Natural B2B Virtual Talk Shop: Sustainable packaging solutions

In this session of The Organic & Natural Virtual B2B Talk Shop, Warren Hickinbotham, Co-founder of Organic and Natural Products Portal Africa, and John Fox from Enviromall, debunks the myth of “all packaging is bad” and provides us with sustainable packaging solutions.

Watch: Organic and Natural Virtual B2B Talk Shop Session 2: Sustainable packaging solutions

Statement – Packaging is a waste and it’s a threat to the environment.

Well, the truth is that it’s a myth.

Without packaging we would have a lot of food wastage. Packaging protects our food against spoilage. It protects it against physical damage.

It keeps the moisture in when you need the moisture to be kept in and it also keeps the moisture out when you need the moisture to be kept out.

Studies have been conducted which shows that up to 30 or 40% of agricultural products are not arriving at the consumer in a fit state for it to be consumed.

That’s largely because of the packaging without the right packaging.

What is it then about packaging? We need to make the right decisions by focusing on these 6 areas to create a circular economy:

• Rethink and reduce
• Redesign
• Reuse
• Repair and manufacture
• Recycle
• Recover

The problem with man and society today is that we’ve always had a linear economy. In other words, you manufacture something. You use it and you send it off to landfill.

Sometimes it doesn’t even get, as far as landfill, it ends up either in the countryside or it lands up in our rivers or seas, and that’s the kind of thing that we need to be avoiding.

The 6 sustainable packaging solutions:

1. Rethink and reduce:

We seriously need to make packaging more of a circular economy. We need to rethink, and to reduce the amount of packaging that we use. You can save a lot just simply by doing.

2. Redesign:

How many times have you been to the supermarket and you buy yourself, perhaps it’s a piece of meat that’s got a sleeve around it? They then put it in a polystyrene tray and then they wrap it with cling wrap on top of that? Same goes for take away coffee cup lids and then they might still go and stick a label on it. I mean, you can reduce that packaging by redesigning packaging. You have to know what materials can be put together to make your package much more recyclable.

3. Reuse:

I’ve got to have my cups of coffee in the morning before I get going. However, as for the coffee shop, they’re designing their packaging to be reusable. Not only is it reusable, it’s actually attractive. People want to reuse attractive things.

4. Repair and remanufacture:

Let’s look at stuff that we can repair just like the old days. Broken things would be repaired and people would carry on. Nowadays, things are designed to last the length of the warranty. Things need to be designed to be recycled.

5. Recycle:

Just because something says it’s recyclable doesn’t mean it will be recycled. Recycle. Because, the way it is at the moment, our landfills are filling up fast and we are running out of space.

6. Recover:

We need to recover our landfills.

The truth is “biodegradable” is not a good thing. The reason for that is biodegradable simply means that a product would break down within a certain time. It doesn’t mean that it’s good for the earth. It doesn’t mean that you can put it back into the soil as compost. It just simply means it’s going to break down.

So, what is good then?

Compostable.

Something that is compostable is good. If it’s compostable, it will be both biodegradable and good for the earth.

Unfortunately, South Africa currently doesn’t have a compostable standard. We are working on one with Samson, hopefully that will be available soon. We are also working with all the major retailers and brand owners, and it looks like all of them are going to endorse it as well.

When a product comes in, it will be verified as being compostable. We will then send it to an independent auditor, and they will then audit to verify that that product deserves to have that label that has not been faked.

Do you need more information on sustainable packaging solutions?

Get in touch with John and let him help you and your businesses in terms of your packaging journey and how to think about it.

John Fox

083 383 2129

john@enviromall.co.za

Keeping the Organic & Natural conversation going…

The Organic & Natural Virtual B2B Talk Shop takes place twice a year, and brings together a mix of all industry stakeholders for two FREE days of conference and networking, with the opportunity to feature one’s company in a micro site on the platform.

The conference content covers an overview of the organic and natural sector delivered by Trade Intelligence, with insights from various retail buyers, distributors, tech enablers along the likes of e-commerce and marketing, and associations and government bodies offering support services to organisations in the sector.

Delegates are made up of suppliers in the sector ranging from fresh produce to food & beverage, as well as cosmetics and personal care, distributors, exporters, importers and industry support bodies.

The Organic & Natural Products Portal Africa is an easy-to-use portal for both trade buyers and consumers to access Organic & Natural Products Expo information, as well as the company information of suppliers of organic and natural products in, and from, the African continent.

Get listed on the directory to gain exposure to thousands of trade buyers and consumers seeking products in your category.